Killer whales gathering in a newly discovered biodiversity hotspot off the south coast of Western Australia are communicating with Aussie accents, according to a research group studying the ocean's apex predator.

Catching a glimpse of snow at the top of Bluff Knoll is a highly sought after WA bucket-list item, but this history of snowfall in WA spans Geraldton to Southern Cross.

Australian companies are enjoying record high woodchip prices, with overseas demand especially form China pushing the price for premium chips beyond $260 per bone-dry tonne.

Eighty-two per cent of tourists to WA want an Aboriginal cultural experience when they visit, but only 26 per cent get what they want.

This online community is reaching out to asylum seekers, providing friendship and support.

Arm wrestling is often associated with a casual competition at the local pub, but professionals like Ryan 'The Milkman' Scott compete internationally and are working hard to grow the sport in regional communities.

Micheal McRae is accused of bashing his baby son Nathaniel, leaving him with severe brain injuries, but the charge is upgraded after the boy spent a year fighting for life in hospital.

A regional council hopes to change attitudes towards the straw-necked ibis, cousin of the Australian white ibis or much-maligned bin chicken, in an effort to win over residents and visitors.

Modern consumers want to know more about the story of their food where it came from, how it was produced and farmers in WA are taking advantage of the trend.

Australian farmers are grappling with the future of wheat exports as Black Sea nations like Russia and Ukraine increase shipments to Indonesia.

It is now decades since Todd Jefferis first raised the alarm about the sexual abuse atrocities carried out at Katanning's St Andrew's Hostel in Western Australia, but his fight for justice might finally be nearing an end.

A West Australian man has captured on camera what may be one of the first documented cases of a redback spider capturing a mouse.

Aquaculture has replaced tourism to become the biggest breadwinner in two of WA's picturesque tourism towns once reliant on seasonal work.

The "extinction pit" is the name used by scientists for a place no animal wants to go, and just five years ago the numbat Western Australia's animal emblem found itself on the edge thanks to the rise of a new predator.

With WA moving closer to legalising voluntary assisted dying, the debate is shining a light on the desperate need for better palliative care, particularly in regional areas.

In West Cape Howe National Park on WA's rugged south coast, there is a narrow, twisting track with a fearsome reputation that has become a rite of passage for four-wheel drive enthusiasts.

Australia's $1.4-billion plantation woodchip industry is dragged into the US-China trade war, with a number of shipments to the Asian economic powerhouse cancelled in the fallout from the dispute.

A sharp rise in water use has prompted warnings from a former WA state water minister that the Government may need to bring forward construction of a desalination plant, putting significant upward pressure on household water bills.

African swine fever has depleted China's pig herd, creating a protein shortage that is benefitting Australian sheep farmers.

Authorities in Western Australia investigate a large mussel die-off that covered a 1km stretch of beach on the south coast last week.

The WA SES Volunteer Association hits out at department bureaucracy after a decade-long wait for equipment.

Praised for its "sweat characters and nuttiness", a Perth-based distillery and second-generation farmer from Western Australia's far-north have teamed up to create Australia's first red corn whiskey.

Sources have confirmed the $150 million public housing debt owed by Tasmania will be waived, as demanded by Senator Jacqui Lambie in exchange for her vote on the Federal Government's tax cuts.

Close to the heart of gay rights campaigner Rodney Croome are two flags made from the dresses of drag queens who fought police in the Stonewall riots in New York. They'll now be preserved in a collection of memorabilia documenting the battle to change society's views.

DAILY BRIEFING: A worker has been "narrowly missed" by a bolt falling from a crane at a Hobart worksite, and Madeleine Ogilvie meets with Labor to discuss her future.

This wild and rugged corner of north-west Tasmania is bursting with ancient history and dotted with artefacts, but you've probably never heard of it.

Bereft of vineyards a couple of years ago, Forcett in south-east Tasmania, will soon have more than 200 hectares of wine grapes in the ground.

DAILY BRIEFING: A woman is in police custody after a house is in Lauderdale on Hobart's eastern shore is destroyed by fire and concerns raised over planned cuts to distance education teacher levels.

A man accused of deliberately running over and killing a stranger had post-traumatic stress disorder after an assault nine years earlier, a court has heard.

DAILY BRIEFING: The family of three-year-old Eleanor Oakley, which has been fundraising so the young girl can travel to the US to receive cancer treatment, reaches its $300,000 target.

In an six-hour police interview played to the jury, Ms Otto told detectives she and friend Bradley Purkiss had fantasised about living together and had often said things would be easier if her husband were dead.

A senior member of the Fertility Society of Australia has used a speech at the opening of the society's conference to criticise researchers for making negative comments about the IVF industry in the media.

The Launceston City Council becomes the second in Tasmania to scrap its Australia Day celebrations and instead hold its citizenship ceremony on a less contentious day.

Laura Kennedy got her first tattoo in Sydney when she was 21, she's now a customer of Tasmania's first dedicated laser tattoo removal studio after a series of bad inking experiences.

South Australia's recent "old mate" tourism campaign may have ended in tears both literally and figuratively but Tasmania is hoping to cash in on that controversy by releasing its own rival ad.

DAILY BRIEFING: The father of Graham Enniss, who escaped from Hobart's Risdon Prison this morning, urges his son to hand himself in, as police caution the public to stay away from the man.

Scientists hope a drill that can plunge 3 kilometres down into an Antarctic ice cap and withstand temperatures of -55 degrees Celsius will help solve one of the last great puzzles in climate science.

A coronial inquest has heard a 56-year-old man who was killed when he was electrocuted at his workplace was trying to move cafe equipment before he died.

Autonomous mining trucks and remote health tools are among key Australian technologies that NASA will need for its 2024 Moon mission, stakeholders say.

Tasmanian police release photos of a number of household items and non-perishable foods found in bushland near where a prison escapee was found.

When there's a smell of smoke in the air, bushfire survivor Michael King still feels jittery. He describes it as similar to "how a Vietnam veteran might feel if he hears the sound of a chopper overhead".

DAILY BRIEFING: Inmates involved in an escape from prison allegedly tried to get out earlier the same morning, and the Tasmanian Mayor defends renting a short-stay property to staff.

DAILY BRIEFING: The wait for public housing in Tasmania blows out by 34 per cent for those most in need, and passengers on a tourist train get a fright after an apparent failure of the braking system.

Jamie John Curtis tortured Alicia and murdered her fiance. His latest bid for freedom has failed, so now she's calling for him to be declared a dangerous criminal in the hope that he'll never be paroled.

DAILY BRIEFING: Bushwalkers are rescued in two separate incidents in Tasmania's national parks, while road spikes are deployed after a driver evades police.